Cancer, malaria, scholarships and DNA
 SV40 and human cancerA few months ago, I recorded a podcast about whether there is a role for SV40 in human cancer. A paper just published again confirms the negative conclusion I reached. An unknown proportion of formalin-inactivated poliovirus vaccine lots administered to millions of US residents between 1955 and 1963 was contaminated with small amounts of infectious simian virus 40 (SV40), a polyomavirus of the rhesus macaque. It has been reported that mesothelioma, brain tumors, osteosarcoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) contain SV40 DNA sequences and that SV40 infection introduced into humans by the vaccine probably contributed to the development of these cancers. In summary, the most recent evidence does not support the notion that SV40 contributed to the development of human cancers. Shah KV. SV40 and human cancer: a review of recent data. Int J Cancer. 2007 120: 215-223 |
 Malaria mitochondria make DNAMitochondria act as a cell’s power plant, producing energy from oxygen taken in by respiration. Scientists looking at mitochondria in Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of the four types of the parasite that causes malaria in humans, found this parasite’s mitochondria do not generate energy but still consume oxygen. The mitochondrial electron transport chain of Plasmodium falciparum serves only one function, to manufacture ubiquinone which required for DNA biosynthesis. Many single-cell eukaryotes have lost their mitochondrial genomes during evolution, and P. falciparum seems to be close to that state. These findings also help explain how GlaxoSmithKline’s antimalarial drug Malarone, works. Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite, occurs throughout tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world, killing at least a million people annually, most of them young children in sub-Saharan Africa. |
 More than a quarter of U.S. women carry cervical cancer virusOver one in four U.S. women between the ages of 14 and 59 years is infected with human papillomavirus – a sexually transmitted virus that can cause genital warts and cervical cancer. Around a quarter of teenage girls and half of women in their early 20s carry the virus. More than 2% of the women tested positive for HPV 16, HPV 18, or both, strains of the virus known to cause cervical cancer. High-risk strains of HPV are found in 99% of women with cervical cancer. Doctors say that the new findings show that HPV infection is common and that there is a need to vaccinate young girls against high-risk strains of the virus. But some campaigners argue that vaccination should not be encouraged for all girls because it only protects against a small subset of HPV strains.Prevalence of HPV Infection Among Females in the United States. JAMA 2007 297: 813-819 |
 Does the University of Leicester offer any scholarships?Yes – the University of Leicester Entrance Scholarship is a non-repayable scholarship of £1000 is available to new UK students who achieve at least ABB at A-level including AVCE (best three A-levels, excluding General Studies) or 36 in their International Baccalaureate. Students are automatically entitled to the scholarship if they enter one of the following degree courses:
and others … |
| web2dna www.microbiologybytes.com as DNA courtesy of web2dna:
Web2DNA takes a website, analyzes it, crunches it up and spit it out as a graphic representation of DNA. The brightness of the lines is determined by the importance of the tags in terms of structure:
Web2RSS is pretty nifty as well! |
hi you, i realy like this web site, i hope that you give me information about malaria disease